Charleston Single House

A Charleston single house is one room wide, with its narrow gable end, two or three bays (window or door openings) wide, facing the street. The longer side, often five bays, runs back from the street. Each floor has one room on either side of a short central hall. The door facing the street opens onto a piazza, a covered porch of two or three stories on the south or west side. The real front door stands partway along the piazza and leads into the hall.

Examples include the Robert Brewton House (71 Church Street), the John McKee House (44 King Street, about 1796), the Daniel Ravenel House (68 Broad Street, 1796) and the Charles Graves House (123 Tradd Street). Federal houses usually show a wide, symmetrical front to the street with a centered door under a fanlight. A single house turns its gable end to the street, and its main door is on the side. Many single houses use Federal detail, including the Graves House.

The single house developed in Charleston, South Carolina, in the 1700s, in response to the city's long, narrow lots. The Robert Brewton House at 71 Church Street dates to the early 1700s, and the Thomas Legare House and Ann Peacock House date to about 1759 and 1760. The Daniel Ravenel House and the John McKee House, both from about 1796, are examples from the Federal period.

Later single houses had two- and three-story piazzas added. The piazzas always stand on the side with the front door, which is the south or west side, where they take advantage of prevailing winds and shade the interior from the sun. The Robert Gibbes House at 4 John Street, in the Adamesque style by 1819, has two-story piazzas overlooking John Street. Single houses were built in Federal, Greek Revival and Victorian styles. A popular story says the form avoided a tax based on a house's street frontage, but no evidence supports it.